When Yi Sheng Yue Wei opened on Yongkang Lu almost three years ago, its neighbors were pajama-clad retirees, a mahogany furniture workshop and the Shikumen History Museum – which, to be honest, is actually just one history buff’s storied alleyway house. Now the two-block street is one of the most laowai-gentrified in Shanghai, with bars run by French interns, coffee shops stocked with beans from Ethiopia and competing fish-and-chips shops. Rents have skyrocketed, and there’s even talk of transforming the thoroughfare into a pedestrian street. But amongst the hustle, bustle and inebriated foreigners, Yi Sheng Yue Wei remains, loyally serving the same home-style Cantonese food as it did when it first opened.
More familiarly known as Eason by the laowai (i.e. foreigners) who have invaded the street, Yi Sheng Yue Wei eschews the fancy trappings typical of food from southern China: there’s nary a dim sum dish on the menu, and they’d laugh you out the door if you ordered shark’s fin soup. Dishes are served on unadorned white china and wicker baskets you’d find in any Chinese home, and the waitstaff is part of the same smiling family, all of whom are happy to wave curious passersby in through the oversized porthole window on the street level.
And when you do walk in, opt to sit downstairs, if any of the tables are available – there are only three (with four more tables on the makeshift second floor that reaches too close to the ceiling for comfort). From this vantage point, you can watch the food flying out of the kitchen, where it receives some last-minute herbal touches from the granny behind the bar.
The menu is long, although not the tome that you’d flounder through at most Cantonese restaurants. But there are some tried-and-true orders you’ll see on most tables, like the clay pot dishes. An entire page of the menu is dedicated to this cooking method, which steams the ingredients inside a sand pot and keeps them bubbling well after they’ve landed on your table. Try the fragrant morning glory with shrimp paste or the beef offal stewed with daikon radish for a taste of the authentic.
Another favorite is a rustic take on potato pancakes that would make Paula Deen proud. The chef first mashes the potatoes, then batters and deep-fries them into small hockey pucks of gooey, greasy goodness. Tender strips of stir-fried beef with meaty oyster mushrooms will satisfy those with carnivorous desires, while adventurous diners can dip their chopsticks into a glass vase teeming with drunken shrimp. Still alive, although very inebriated from their marinade of rice wine, the shellfish are best devoured during lunch. Too long a stay in their watering hole will kill off the prospect of playing with your food.
And it wouldn’t be a trip to Eason without a dish of Qingyuan chicken. Sometimes crudely mistranslated on menus as “virgin” chicken (or even “chicken without a sex life”), this dish is the gold standard by which all Cantonese restaurants are judged. A simply steamed whole chicken is cut and served on the bone, accompanied by a chili-flaked dipping sauce made of ginger, shallots and soy sauce. You can order this dish, which is expertly done at Eason, as a set meal, which is one of the best deals in town. For less than RMB 35, you get a main accompanied by the soup of the day, steamed rice pickled vegetables and a “salad,” which more often than not is a single cherry tomato served in a condiment dish. Simple, yet satisfying, like everything else in this unassuming gem of a restaurant.
November 9, 2017 Cha’s
Hong Kong native and Cha’s owner Charlie Lau became a restaurateur because of a […] Posted in Shanghai
February 19, 2015 Guang Ming Cun
On one of Shanghai’s busiest shopping streets, amidst the glittering Tiffany & Co, […] Posted in Shanghai
November 12, 2013 Roast Duck
The Chinese have appreciated the finer qualities of roast duck for millennia, and in […] Posted in Shanghai
Published on November 28, 2012
Related stories
November 9, 2017
ShanghaiHong Kong native and Cha’s owner Charlie Lau became a restaurateur because of a hankering. A movie producer by day, Lau came to Shanghai with Ang Lee to film Lust/Caution, and was disappointed that Shanghai lacked a proper Hong Kongese cha canting, a casual all-day eatery that serves traditional Cantonese food alongside milk teas and…
February 19, 2015
ShanghaiOn one of Shanghai’s busiest shopping streets, amidst the glittering Tiffany & Co, Piaget and Apple stores, Guang Ming Cun is housed in a nondescript four-story building. Glass displays in front offer a glimpse of the braised and dried meats for sale, and around the side you can peek in to watch flaky meat pastries…
November 12, 2013
ShanghaiThe Chinese have appreciated the finer qualities of roast duck for millennia, and in that time, they’ve refined their cooking techniques into a virtual art form. The first mention of roast duck (烤鸭, kǎoyā) dates back to the Northern and Southern dynasties (A.D. 420–589). By the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), the tawny bird was gracing the…
